Explain the concept of gradable and non-gradable adjectives.

Adjective Questions



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Explain the concept of gradable and non-gradable adjectives.

Gradable adjectives are those that can be used to describe a quality or attribute to different degrees or levels. They can be modified by adverbs such as "very," "quite," or "extremely" to indicate the intensity of the quality. For example, "tall" is a gradable adjective as someone can be very tall, quite tall, or just slightly tall.

On the other hand, non-gradable adjectives are those that describe qualities that are absolute and cannot be modified or compared. These adjectives do not have degrees of intensity. For example, "unique" is a non-gradable adjective as something is either unique or not, and it cannot be more or less unique.

In summary, gradable adjectives can be modified to indicate different levels of intensity, while non-gradable adjectives describe qualities that are absolute and cannot be modified.